trudymade: lacontessa: In 1945, 18-year-old Princess Elizabeth convinced her father that she should be allowed to contribute directly to the war effort. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she was known as No 230873 Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, trained as a driver, and drove a military truck while she served.This training was the first time she had been taught together with other students. It is said that she greatly enjoyed this and that this experience led her to send her own children to school rather than have them educated at home. She was the first, and so far only, female member of the royal family to actually serve in the armed forces, although every monarch is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of both the British and Canadian Armed Forces, and other royal women have been given honorary ranks. During the VE Day celebrations in London, she and her sister, Princess Margaret, mingled with the crowd after midnight to celebrate with everyone. (via)